Daly Dish: Travel Advisors, Think You’re Not in Sales? Think Again.

This article originally appeared in the September issue of AGENTatHOME magazine. Subscribe here to receive your free copy each month.

Editors Note: The following is written by Drew Daly, senior vice president and general manager for CruiseOne and Dream Vacations.

With the fall season upon us, it’s time to re-focus on your sales process.

Do you consider yourself a salesperson? I often hear from travel advisors who cringe at the thought of being associated with that career path. Ninety percent of the time, when advisors think of someone who sells, they associate the idea with a “car salesperson,” and may reflect on many negative interactions with that occupation in the past. After all, that’s the one profession where we all know we are being sold something.

But every travel advisor needs to embrace the fact that they are, in fact, selling a product (travel), and they must recognize that there is a selling process that works. It comes down to six simple steps:

1. Greeting
2. Qualifying
3. Researching
4. Presenting
5. Asking for the sale
6. Following up

 For now, let’s focus on the greeting. Your first interaction with a prospective client is crucial to your success. When your phone rings, you answer it. What you say, how you say it, or how you email or text information will make — or break — your business.

How are you going to “wow” a potential client?

Always remember that a smile instantly changes your energy, and will naturally create excitement when you are talking or sharing information about travel.

In my opinion, your first interaction should have three components: Thank the prospective client for contacting you, provide your identity and inquire further as to how you can help. Thanking someone for contacting you is important, because clients do have other options. Giving them your name will help set the stage for you to take ownership of the information you are sharing. Finally, inquiring further as to how you can help will direct the next steps in your conversation.

Practice changing the way in which you kick off your interactions with a prospect and try out different ways to wow them.

We will dive further into the other steps in the next article, but I want to assure you that mastering your first impression will help keep people engaged and focused on wanting to do business with you.

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